Yes, good advice, thanks. I was wondering about a gear drive. I don't mind the sound of straight-cut gears but wonder if gear drives last as long as a standard replacement chain with steel gears. I've also heard that a chain provides some resiliency for the valvetrain that is good for distributor gear/etc. longevity. Urban myths?
There are millions upon millions of timing chains that have given zero troubles for every bit of their designed life expectancy. Just get a good one. You need dead nuts valve timing events for a max effort engine- gear drive is the way to go. You want the whine to complement the rump- gear drive again.
Doesn't the efi block NOT have the provisions for a mechanical fuel pump?. I would go with an older 350 if you want low rpm torque, gas mileage and cheap. The 283 you'll be pushing the gas more to get up to speed and maintain that speed, friend has a 283 in a '50 merc (the rest of the drivetrain is stock) as a daily driver and he's says he could get better mpg from a 350 because of that fact. A 327 would be good but around here they are more $$ then a 350 or 305.
The engine was built in Ontario on June 6th, 1968, and went into a full-size Chevy with a Powerglide that was assembled in Tonawanda.
This '68 block has provision for a mechanical fuel pump. The smaller displacement is preferable to me for the reasons discussed earlier in this thread, and 31 Vicky sold me on the idea of a 307.
Hurry up and wait. Engine is disassembled down to the short block. Almost no ridge and no rust in bores, so I am hoping to be able to reuse these pistons and rods. I have not opened a rod or main cap but I expect they will be mint, too. So the lower end might just get new bearings and seals and rings and oil pump. The cam is out and was somewhat flat. Onto the scrap pile it went. I was wondering if the stock heads have hardened seats. I have not yet removed any valves. I know, the stock heads have huge chambers, but budget is tight. If I score some better heads, fine, and if not the stockers look reusable. Also pondering keeping the stock iron 2bbl intake. I don't have a 2GC but should be able to find one. I like the idea of keeping the motor all cast iron despite the weight penalty. Longevity is better without aluminum in the picture (possible galvanism). I guess what I find for heads (305, steaming deal on vortec, whatever) is going to influence cam choice and other details.
Might be just lucky this past month, maybe it's prime hunting time for others going garage cleaning ? But I had good 307 fall into my lap, Scored a set of power pack heads pretty damn cheap And found a 305 with fresh from the machine shop 416 heads for easy money. The stock 307 heads are gonna suck no matter how you look at it.
Hi there, Been thinking about a 61 Corvette. This could be a correct 283 car or not. I would love to fine a dual quad car and pull the 283 and save it and drop in a mild 350 (roller hyd cam, aluminum heads, electronic ign), but use the original 61 dual quads setup. Or even a 61 fuelie setup. What kind of HP would one of these make?
about as much as the same setup with a single 4bbl of "normal" size. Those dual quads were really low CFM. As for the original fuel injection, it's designed to work with the original 283, and was modified in 62 to work with the 327. So figure whatever was possible with the 62 FI setup, would be what you'd end up with. It would be very challenging to get this to work. hint: most of the added HP on the performance engines in those years came from the ability to rev them close to 7000 rpm, and the cam/intake/carb changes were to get more airflow at the higher RPM. So think lots of gearing to make the car go fast. I've been playing with the 327 in my 62 Vette, and have gone back to it's original 250 hp configuration. The torque of this engine is very similar to that of the 340 hp engine, but it just doesn't rev as high. Lots of fun to drive it with highway gearing, and it gets decent mileage.
To answer your question about the heads; I don't know for certain but unleaded gas wasn't a thing in 68 so unless the engine was intended for heavy duty (truck) use it wouldn't have hardened valve seats from the factory. It could have had them installed later during a valve job though...
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